There are just 24 days to go to December 12 when the United Kingdom will go to the polls. And Eastlondonlines will be at the forefront of local coverage of what many believe is the more important election in a generation.
The third general election since 2015, and the first in December in nearly a century may – or may not – end the political stalemate that has plagued the country since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Eastlondonlines will be covering all things #ELLGE19 across the nine constituencies in Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets, including in-depth constituency profiles, campaign stories and election night coverage with our reporters present at all the counts.
For more on what the next 24 days of the campaign trail have in store, read our election coverage so far and check out Twitter for further election advent calendar updates.
Most constituencies across the four boroughs are Labour strongholds. Croydon South is a Conservative stronghold, and we will be closely watching the race for the Croydon Central, a swing seat, which most recently voted Labour in the 2017 election.
Labour candidate for Croydon Central, Sarah Jones, who won the constituency by 5,652 votes is standing for re-election; Conservative candidate Mario Creatura is challenging her for the seat. Both candidates were busy campaigning over the weekend.
Other notable constituencies include Hackney North and Stoke Newington, where PPC Diane Abbott can expect to win by a decent majority, despite the effect that the antisemitism controversy surrounding the leadership of the Labour Party had on the large local Jewish community.
Aspana Begum, of the Labour Party has also faced allegations of antisemitism in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency in Tower Hamlets over material shared on social media; allegations Begum called “grossly insulting.” She has also been criticised for her links with the disgraced former Mayor, Lufthur Rahman.
The first leader’s debate will be held on tonight at 8:00pm on ITV; controversially, only Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have been invited. A second debate will host seven leadership candidates on the BBC on Friday, November 29 at 7:00pm, and a final debate will again host only Conservative and Labour leaders on Friday December 6, also hosted by the BBC.
All eligible voters should ensure that they have registered to vote, ahead of the November 26 deadline. Currently, it is believed that more than nine million eligible voters across the have not yet registered.
